Fingerprints Music

Reviews:

The Nature of Maps features a lot of the indulgent wankery that smart groupslearn how to weed out when they're footing a studio bill or they realizethat someone in the outside world might actually hear their efforts. It'sa novice mistake—and certainly one that Philadelphia mini-orchestra MattPond PA shouldn't be making on its fourth full-length record. Part of theproblem is that the group has chosen to fixate its efforts on chamber pop, agenre where decadence and indulgence are far too often conflated. Part of theproblem is sequencing; contrary to what its title might suggest, The Natureof Maps lacks a true directional anchor and it doesn't flow at allfrom end to end. But mostly, it just feels like Matt Pond and company are tryingtoo damn hard.

Singer/songwriter Pond is a wizard with arrangements, and he manages to coaxa lush, sweeping sound out of his six-piece that's often bigger than theresources at hand might otherwise allow. Matt Pond PA's last effort TheGreen Fury—released barely more than 10 months ago—had a casualsort of grace informing it. Not so with The Nature of Maps, which uneasilyrides the extremes between songs with a morbid emphasis on surface texturesand skeletal compositions that scream out for a little fat and gristle. AndPond's vocals—one of the strong suits of previous records—evenfeel icy and distant on the warmer-sounding tracks. It's now or never forMatt Pond PA; considering the over-reliance on formula (and the giant leap backward)on this self-aggrandizing effort, it's not hard to predict the most probablefuture outcome.